Shish just got real

The distinguished members of TATTGOC sure do love their curry, as evidenced by their current title of Curry Lovers Of The Year. But their ongoing quest for spicy satisfaction isn't merely limited to TATTGOC's regular excursions to some of Glasgow's hidden-gem curryhouses. If they happen across almost any curry-related foodstuff or product, Trampy and The Tramp feel compelled to take it for a spin – and thus was born the irregular feature Tastin' With The Tramps, where TATTGOC's burly founders crack open the Kingfisher and get their laughing gear round something fiery. What curry-related foodstuff or product is in the hot seat this time? It's perennial student favourite and standby snack of casual labourers everywhere: Pot Noodle! Someone best get the kettle on ...

Yesterday, GFF co-director Allan Hunter guided us through the Beyond Bollywood programme. So today we thought we should check in with Monir Mohammed, the proprieter of Glasgow's legendary Mother India family of restaurants (which includes the three awesome Wee Curry Shops), to find out why he was sponsoring this particular strand. In other words, it's part two of our GFF double-bill!

Hello Monir! Thanks for taking the time to talk to TATTGOC. So how did Mother India get involved in sponsoring the Beyond Bollywood strand at the GFF?
We have actually been working with the Glasgow Film Theatre on quite a few things over the last 10-15 years. I've got a real soft spot for that cinema in particular, and the people who run it, and sponsoring something is a nice thing to do – nicer than just sticking an ad in the paper. I think there is definitely some crossover between the clientele of our restaurants and people who go to the GFT. And, of course, we've got The Wee Curry Shop round the corner on Buccleuch Street and it's always full of people who are going to the GFT.

This sponsorship as part of the festival was a slightly bigger thing but it's been a good thing to do. The GFT appreciate it, and they always keep trying to promote us, so we are very happy with it.

Everyone at TATTGOC loves Indian food but we're no experts on the nation's cinema – so we reached out to Allan Hunter, co-director of the Glasgow Film Festival, to fill us in on Beyond Bollywood. Despite being incredibly busy with the festival, Allan also took the time to talk to us about some of his curry favourites. Read on to hear his recommendations for both screen and plate, and be sure to check back with the blog tomorrow for an interview with Monir Mohammed of Mother India to hear how his award-winning restaurant got involved.

So, Allan: what made you and your co-director Allison Gardner want to focus on Indian cinema for the GFF this year?
A combination of factors. I had been on holiday to India staying in Delhi, Varanasi and Jaipur, visiting the Taj Mahal, sailing on Mother Ganges at dawn and all the things that first-time tourists do. There was a sense of a growing link between Scotland and India, especially with the Commonwealth Games handover from Delhi to Glasgow for 2014. Also, there was a sense of Indian cinema's greater visibility across the international film festival circuit. Over the past year, Indian productions have enjoyed a fairly high profile at Cannes, Toronto and Venice which was unusual and seemed to suggest that there was something quite interesting happening in Indian cinema and a lot of British audiences have so few opportunities to see Indian films.

(The TATTGOC brotherhood extends around the globe, and we welcome reports of curry expeditions beyond Glasgow – in this bulletin, chief Foreign Curryspondent Tikka MaBaws files yet another spicy dispatch from his globetrotting journey with the adorable Phall From Grace, as they make like curry Conquistadors and invade South America. Follow their ongoing adventures at the life-enriching travel/photo blog I Done A Holiday)

Greetings TATTGOC faithful ...

Tikka MaBaws here.

Firstly, a confession: there were times while travelling through Asia, that Phall From Grace and I wished nothing more than normal, stodgy Western scran. But it was all noodle this, rice that ...

Even the constant presence of curry was scant comfort. Now we are in South America, though, I would beat a chupacabra to death for a spicy selection on a menu. Having started in Ushuaia, the world's most southerly city, and travelled a third of the continent north to Buenos Aires, finding anything with any more oomph than American mustard has been impossible.

Instead, restaurants are filled with stodgy pasta, unbearably cheesy pizzas, glorious steaks or weird, limp sandwiches. Vegetables seem like a distant memory; curry as realistic a prospect as the revival of newspapers.

It's like climbing Mount Doom, it really is.

“Do you remember the taste of lamb bhuna Mr Frodo?”

“No Sam, I can't recall the taste of food, nor the sound of water, nor the touch of grass. Instead I'm ... naked in the dark. There's nothing. No veil between me and the lack of fire! I can see him ... With my waking eyes!”

Thankfully, Argentina and Chile are at least home to some of the most stunning scenery we forlorn marauders have ever seen. Plus, on arriving in Buenos Aires, we very quickly came to realise that it is one of the best cities in the world.

A lot has happened in the last 12 months. The TATTGOC team have continued their mission to sample the lesser-known curry houses of this fine city, we shot the breeze with some famous Glasgow curry lovers, started some brand new features, got our faces splashed across not one, but two Sunday magazines and even received a cease and desist notice from Terence Stamp. Oh, and on top of all that we also won an award. A busy year ... but you know what hasn't happened? The Tramp hasn't fired up the old jukebox, that's what hasn't happened. It's been nearly a whole year since the beast was cranked and the old boy was in a sorry state when I pulled off the dustsheet the other night. A scoosh of WD-40 here, a bit of Brasso there and it's ready for action once more. So get a G&T poured, ease on your slippers and relax into your favourite chair – this is going to be smooth. This time I'm putting on a whole album ... Curried Jazz by The Indo-British Jazz Ensemble.